I’ve known about 43 things since its launch and lots of my friends made a list for themselves but I somehow didn’t feel the need. That’s until now! Today, I finally decided to make the list just to have all (okay, most!) of my short and long term goals at one place. The final list can be viewed here. It consists of 14 items for now. I’m already working on some of the goals (learn a foreign language, learn to play the guitar). Few are to be followed throughout my life (go to the gym regularly, to live instead of exist, take more pictures, travel more, meet new people). Few are yet to be started (learn to cook, learn to dance). Some are one time, easily achievable goals but what I never get around doing (go to a concert, get a massage) and some not-so-easy ones (go bungee jumping). And there’s one long term goal (Own my own business)  although that’s something I’d love to do and  not really a goal. I’ve still kept it on the list. I wonder how many of these will I be able to complete! Do you have a similar list?

Four years ago, on this very day, I came to Bangalore. And things have been really good here. I’m happy with the way my life – professional and personal – has turned out in the last four years.

But lets go back to the day I came to Bangalore. I was all prepared to say goodbye to my home as it was the first time I was going away for so long. Nobody knew how long but I had an intuition that it wouldn’t be a short trip. But there was something else in store for me. When I woke up that day, I felt that my face was a little too stiff and it hurt when I touched it but it was ignored because there were more important things to do.

I boarded my flight in the afternoon and when I saw myself later in the wash room mirror of the plane, I realized that most part of my nose and nearby parts of my right cheek had hardened and turned red. As my flight kept flying, landing and taking off (It was a Lucknow-Delhi-Hyderabad-Bangalore flight) and time kept on passing, it kept getting worse. Finally, after arriving in Bangalore in the evening, it had turned into a big blister.

My sister and bro-in-law were at the airport to receive me. They took me to see the doctor as soon as we got home. It tuned out to have been caused by a Blister beetle. It might have attacked me while I packed my stuff the night before. I didn’t go out of the house much in the next few days because I didn’t want all the people to see me for the first time with a huge pussy blister on my face. Ah! it was terrible but it does make for a great story!